Noteworthy new listings….
I try not to gloat when a prediction comes true, not because I’m better than that, but because occasionally I’m dead wrong. Take 840 Ivy Lane ($7.995 million) in Riven Rock: “Don’t be surprised if this goes for north of $8 million,” I wrote in May 2022, when it came on the market for $7.6 million—and ultimately sold for $6.4 million after seven months. While there’s still plenty I’d change (including making the floors consistent throughout), and there are more stairs than I’d expect (including between the kitchen and the pantry) in a 1984 house on a flat-ish acre, I still think it warrants consideration from anyone looking in this price range. The floor plan is livable, and the backyard, with a guest house on the far side of the pool, is splendid.
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With the exception of the shower pictured below, consistent contemporary finishes are a main draw at 1319 Plaza Pacifica ($6.6 million), a single-level, ground-floor, three-bedroom condo in Bonnymede.
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The listing for 950 Canon Road ($3.895 million), a 1947 house on .85 acre in Hope Ranch, says the house has been remodeled, but I think it wants another try. I suspect one of the three guest rooms would work better as an office, and the primary could pose a challenge: is there somewhere to position the bed other than wedged into the corner? And why on earth is the bathroom up a set of four stairs?
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There’s plenty of old-house charm at 424 E. Valerio Street ($3.495 million), built in 1905 between Laguna and Olive, and where there’s charm, there’s usually quirk—in this case, a staircase that splits in two. The bones are great, even if the bathrooms got redone at the wrong time. Out back is a two-story building with a permitted apartment on the second floor that’s accessible via a ramp great for practicing your runway walk.
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As long as we’re OK with my being wrong sometimes, here’s another prediction: 777 N. Ontare Road ($2.595 million) will go for over ask. Designed by Paul Greene and built in 1955, the house shares a private lane with just one other property, and it has midcentury style to burn. It’s nominally a three-bedroom, but the primary shares a bath with one of the guest rooms, which means it’s more realistically a two-bedroom with an office. And the lot is .56 acre.
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I didn’t get a chance to see 3050 Serena Road ($2 million), and it’s possible I’m being swayed by the very cool surfboard storage and fabulous tiled bathroom, but I like it (or at least what could be done with it). The mountain views are terrific, and the backyard is an opportunity. The house is at the corner of Samarkand Drive, which means there will be some traffic, and the lot backs up against the Trader Joe’s/Santa Barbara Surgical Center parking lot, but there’s a huge wall.
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Also worth checking out:
••• 307 Santa Monica Way ($3 million): Spec reno of a 1955 three-bedroom, two-bath house in West Mesa; the seller paid $1.895 million at the end of 2023.
••• 234 Cooper Road ($1.995 million): West Mesa four-bedroom, two-bath house in need of updating.
••• 2995 Calle Bonita ($6.25 million): 1990 house with a red metal roof on nearly 20 acres outside Los Olivos.
••• 804 Ayala Lane ($3.495 million): “Livable teardown/remodel” on 1.16 acres in Montecito; no photos, so one wonders exactly how livable….
••• 28 E. Pedregosa Street ($1.475 million): Adorable two-bedroom, one-bath cottage on a prime Upper East block (below).
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